De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) by Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt

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of the crops. About six thousand of their subjects had come to solicittheir freedom. These people had laid down their arms, making the airring and the earth shake with their clamour. The Adelantado spoke toGuarionex and the other caciques, and by means of promises, presents,and threats, charged them to take good care for the future to engagein no further revolt. Guarionex made a speech to the people, in whichhe praised our power, our clemency to the guilty, and our generosityto those who remained faithful; he exhorted them to calm their spiritsand for the future neither to think nor to plan any hostilitiesagainst the Christians, but rather to be obedient, humble, andserviceable to them, unless they wished worse things to overtakethem. When he had finished his speech, his people took him on theirshoulders in a hammock, and in this wise they carried him to thevillage where he lived, and within a few days the entire country waspacified.

Nevertheless the Spaniards were disturbed and depressed, for theyfound themselves abandoned in a strange country. Fifteen months hadelapsed since the departure of the Admiral. The clothes and the foodto which they were accustomed were wanting, and so they marched withsad faces and eyes bent on the ground.[4] The Adelantado stroveas best he might to offer consolation. At this juncture, BeuchiosAnacauchoa, for such was the name of the king of the western provinceof Xaragua of which we have before spoken, sent to the Adelantadonotifying him that the cotton and other tribute he and his subjectswere to pay, were ready. Bartholomew Columbus marched thither,therefore, and was received with great honours, by the cacique and byhis sister. This woman, formerly the wife of Caunaboa, King of Cibao,was held in as great esteem throughout the kingdom as her brother.It seems she was gracious, clever, and prudent.[5] Having learned alesson from the example of her husband, she had persuaded her brotherto submit to the Christians, to soothe and to please them. This womanwas called Anacaona.

[Note 4: The story of the disorders, privations, and unrest, astold by Las Casas, Columbus, and others, makes cheerless reading; themisfortunes of the colonists were due to their inveterate idleness,their tyranny, which had alienated the good-will of the natives, andto the disillusionment that had dispersed their hope of speedily andeasily won riches.]

[Note 5: Herrera (iii., 6) speaks of her as _la insigne Anacaona... mujer prudente y entendida_... etc. She composed with unusualtalent the _arreytos_ or folk-ballads the natives were fond ofsinging. Las Casas describes her dreadful death in his _BrevissimaRelacion_.]

Thirty-two caciques were assembled in the house of Anacauchoa, wherethey had brought their tribute. In addition to what had been agreedupon, they sought to win favour by adding numerous presents, whichconsisted of two kinds of bread, roots, grains, utias, that is tosay, rabbits, which are numerous in the island, fish, which theyhad preserved by cooking them, and those same serpents, resemblingcrocodiles, which they esteem a most delicate food. We have describedthem above, and the natives call them iguanas. They are special toHispaniola.[6] Up to that time none of the Spaniards had ventured toeat them because of their odour, which was not only repugnant butnauseating, but the Adelantado, won by the amiability of the cacique'ssister, consented to taste a morsel of iguana; and hardly had hispalate savoured this succulent flesh than he began to eat it by themouthful. Henceforth the Spaniards were no longer satisfied to barelytaste it, but became epicures in regard to it, and talked of nothingelse than the exquisite flavour of these serpents, which they foundto be superior to that of peacocks, pheasants, or partridges. If,however, they are cooked as we do peacocks and pheasants, which arefirst larded and then roasted, the serpent's flesh loses its goodflavour. First they gut them, then wash and clean them with care,and roll them into a circle, so that they look like the coils of asleeping snake; after which they put them in a pot, just large enoughto hold them, pouring over them a little water flavoured with thepepper found in the island. The pot is covered and a fire of odorouswood which gives very little light is kindled underneath it. A juiceas delicious as nectar runs drop by drop from the insides. It isreported that there are few dishes more appetising than iguana eggscooked over a slow fire. When they are fresh and served hot they aredelicious, but if they are preserved for a few days they still furtherimprove. But this is enough about cooking recipes. Let us pass on toother subjects.

[Note 6: Iguanas are found in all the _tierras calientes_ of thecontinent.]

The tribute of cotton sent by the caciques filled the Adelantado'shut, and, in addition, he accepted their promise to furnish him allthe bread he needed. While waiting for the bread to be made in thedifferent districts, and brought to the house of Beuchios Anacauchoa,King of Xaragua, he sent to Isabella directing that one of thecaravels he had ordered to be built be brought to him, promising thecolonists that he would send it back to them loaded with bread. Thedelighted sailors made the tour of the island with alacrity, andlanded on the coast of Xaragua. As soon as that brilliant, prudent,and sensible woman called Anacaona, sister of Beuchios Anacauchoa,heard that our ship had reached the coast of her country, shepersuaded her brother to accompany her to visit it. The distance fromthe royal residence to the coast was only six miles. They haltedfor the night at a village about halfway, where the queen kept hertreasure; this treasure did not consist of gold, silver, or pearls,but of utensils necessary to the different requirements of life, suchas seats, platters, basins, cauldrons, and plates made of black wood,brilliantly polished; they display great art in the manufacture ofall these articles. That distinguished savant, your doctor, JoannesBaptista Elysius, thinks that this black wood is ebony. It is to themanufacture of these articles that the islanders devote the best oftheir native ingenuity. In the island of Ganabara which, if you havea map, you will see lies at the western extermity of Hispaniola andwhich is subject to Anacauchoa, it is the women who are thus employed;the various pieces are decorated with representations of phantomswhich they pretend to see in the nighttime, and serpents and men andeverything that they see about them. What would they not be able tomanufacture, Most Illustrious Prince, if they knew the use of iron andsteel? They begin by softening the inner part of pieces of wood in thefire, after which they dig them out and work them with shells from therivers.

Anacaona presented to the Adelantado fourteen seats and sixty earthenvessels for the kitchen, besides four rolls of woven cotton of immenseweight. When they all reached the shore where the other royal town issituated, the Adelantado ordered out a barque fully equipped. The kingalso commanded two canoes to be launched, the first for the useof himself and his attendants, the second for his sister and herfollowers, but Anacaona was unwilling to embark on any other than theboat which carried the Adelantado. As they approached the ship, acannon was fired at a given signal. The sound echoed over the sea likethunder, and the air was filled with smoke. The terrified islanderstrembled, believing that this detonation had shattered the terrestrialglobe; but when they turned towards the Adelantado their emotionsubsided. Upon approaching closer to the ship the sound of flutes,fifes, and drums was heard, charming their senses by sweet music, andawakening their astonishment and admiration. When they had been overthe whole ship, from stern to prow, and had carefully visited theforecastle, the tiller, and the hold, the brother and sister looked atone another in silence; their astonishment being so profound that theyhad nothing to say. While they were engaged in visiting the ship, theAdelantado ordered the anchor to be raised, the sails set, and toput out on the high sea. Their astonishment was redoubled when theyobserved that, without oars or the employment of any human force, sucha great boat flew over the surface of the water. It was blowing a landwind, which was favourable to this manoeuvre, and what astonished themmost was to see that the ship which was advanced by the help of thiswind likewise turned about, first to the right and then to the left,according to the captain's will.

At the conclusion of these manoeuvres the ship was loaded with bread,roots, and other gifts, and the Adelantado after offering them somepresents took leave of Beuchios Anacauchoa and his sister, theirfollowers and servants of both sexes. The impression left upon thelatter by this visit was stupefying. The Spaniards marched overlandand returned to Isabella. On arriving there, it was learned thata certain Ximenes Roldan, formerly chief of the miners andcamp-followers, whom the Admiral had made his equerry and raised tothe grade of chief justice, was ill-disposed towards the Adelantado.It was simultaneously ascertained that the Cacique Guarionex, unablelonger to put up with the rapacity of Roldan and the other Spaniardsat Isabella, had been driven by despair to quit the country withhis family and a large number of his subjects, taking refuge in themountains which border the northern coast only ten leagues to the westof Isabella. Both these mountains and their inhabitants bear the samename, _Ciguaia_. The chief of all the caciques inhabiting the mountainregion is called Maiobanexios, who lived at a place called Capronus.These mountains are rugged, lofty, inaccessible, and rise from the seain a semicircle. Between the two extremities of the chain, there liesa beautiful plain, watered by numerous rivers which rise in thesemountains. The natives are ferocious and warlike, and it is thoughtthey are of the same race as the cannibals, for when they descend fromtheir mountains to fight with their neighbours in the plain, they eatall whom they kill. It was with the cacique of these mountains thatGuarionex took refuge, bringing him gifts, consisting of things whichthe mountaineers lack. He told him that the Spaniards had spared himneither ill-treatment nor humiliation nor violence, while neitherhumility nor pride had been of the least use in his dealings withthem. He came, therefore, to him as a suppliant, hoping to beprotected against the injustice of these criminals. Maiobanexiospromised him help and succour to the extent of his power.

Hastening back to La Concepcion the Adelantado summoned XimenesRoldan, who, accompanied by his adherents, was prowling amongst thevillages of the island, to appear before him. Greatly irritated,the Adelantado asked him what his intentions were. To which Roldanimpudently answered: "Your brother, the Admiral is dead, and we fullyunderstand that our sovereigns have little care for us. Were we toobey you, we should die of hunger, and we are forced to hunt forprovisions in the island. Moreover, the Admiral confided to me, aswell as to you, the government of the island; hence, we are determinedto obey you no longer." He added other equally misplaced observations.Before the Adelantado could capture him, Roldan, followed by aboutseventy men, escaped to Xaragua in the western part of the island,where, as the Adelantado reported to his brother, they gave themselvesover to violence, thievery, and massacre.[7]

[Note 7: Some of the principal colonists, including Valdiviessoand Diego de Escobar, favoured Roldan. The sketchy description of thisnotable rebellion here given may be completed by consulting Herrera,Dec. I., 3, i.; Fernando Columbus, _Storia del Almirante_; Irving,_Columbus and his Companions_, book xi., caps iv., v., etc.]

While these disturbances were in progress, the Spanish sovereignsfinally granted the Admiral eight vessels, which Columbus promptlyordered to sail from the town of Cadiz, a city consecrated toHercules. These ships were freighted with provisions for theAdelantado. By chance they approached the western coast of the island,where Ximenes Roldan and his accomplices were. Roldan won over thecrews by promising them fresh young girls instead of manual labour,pleasures instead of exertion, plenty in place of famine, and reposeinstead weariness and watching.

During this time Guarionex, who had assembled a troop of allies,made frequent descents upon the plain, killing all the Christianshe surprised, ravaging the fields, driving off the workmen, anddestroying villages.

Although Roldan and his followers were not ignorant that the Admiralmight arrive from one day to another, they had no fears, since theyhad won over to their side the crews of the ships that had been senton ahead. In the midst of such miseries did the unfortunate Adelantadoawait from day to day the arrival of his brother. The Admiral sailedfrom Spain with the remainder of the squadron but instead of sailingdirectly to Hispaniola, he first laid his course to the south.[8] Whathe accomplished during this new voyage, what seas and countries hevisited, what unknown lands he discovered, I shall narrate, and Ishall also explain at length the sequel of these disorders in thefollowing books. Fare you well.

On the third day of the calends of June, 1498,[1] Columbus sailed fromthe port of San Lucar de Barrameda, which is situated at the mouthof the Guadalquivir not far from Cadiz. His fleet consisted of eightheavily freighted ships. He avoided his usual route by way of theCanaries, because of certain French pirates who were lying in wait forhim. Seven hundred and twenty miles north of the Fortunate Isles hesighted Madeira, which lies four degrees to the south of Seville; forat Seville, according to the mariners' report, the north star risesto the 36th degree, whereas at Madeira it is in the 32d. Madeira was,therefore, his first stop, and from thence he despatched five or sixships loaded with provisions directly to Hispaniola, only keeping forhimself one ship with decks and two merchant caravels. He laid hiscourse due south and reached the equinoctial line, which he purposedto follow directly to the west, making new discoveries and leavingHispaniola to the north on his starboard side. The thirteen islandsof the Hesperides lie in the track of this voyage. They belong to thePortuguese, and all, save one, are inhabited. They are called the CapeVerde islands, and are distant only a day's sail from the western partof Ethiopia. To one of these islands the Portuguese have given thename of Bona Vista[2]; and each year numerous lepers are cured oftheir malady by eating the turtles of this island.

[Note 1: The date was May 30, 1498, and the number of ships underhis command was six, instead of eight. Much delay had occurred infitting out the fleet for the voyage, owing to the poor management ofthe royal functionaries, especially the Bishop of Burgos, whose enmitytowards Columbus was from thenceforward relentless.]

[Note 2: Properly _Boavista_. A leper colony had been establishedhere by the Portuguese.]

The climate being very bad, the Admiral quickly left the archipelagobehind, and sailed 480 miles towards the west-south-west. He reportsthat the dead calms and the fierce heat of the June sun caused suchsufferings that his ships almost took fire. The hoops of his waterbarrels burst, and the water leaked out. His men found this heatintolerable. The pole star was then at an elevation of five degrees.Of the eight days during which they endured these sufferings only thefirst was clear; the others being cloudy and rainy, but not on thataccount less oppressive. More than once, indeed, did he repent havingtaken this course. After eight days of these miseries a favourablewind rose from the south-west, by which the Admiral profited to saildirectly west, and under this parallel he observed new stars in theheavens, and experienced a more agreeable temperature. In fact,all his men agree in saying that after three days' sailing in thatdirection, the air was much cooler. The Admiral affirms that, whilehe was in the region of dead calms and torrid heat, the ship alwaysmounted the back of the sea, just as when climbing a high mountain oneseems to advance towards the sky, and yet, nevertheless, he had seenno land on the horizon. Finally, on the eve of the calends of July, awatcher announced with a joyful cry, from the crow's nest, that he sawthree lofty mountains.[3] He exhorted his companions to keep up theircourage. The men were, indeed, much depressed, not merely because theyhad been scorched by the sun, but because the water-supply was short.The barrels had been sprung by the extreme heat, and lost the waterthrough the cracks. Full of rejoicing they advanced, but as they wereabout to touch land they perceived that this was impossible, becausethe sea was dotted with reefs, although in the neighbourhood theydescried a harbour which seemed a spacious one. From their shipsthe Spaniards could see that the country was inhabited and wellcultivated; for they saw well-ordered gardens and shady orchards,while the sweet odours, exhaled by plants and trees bathed in themorning dew, reached their nostrils.

[Note 3: Alonzo Perez Nirando, a sailor from Huelva, made thejoyous announcement, and the sailors sang the _Salve Regina_ inthanksgiving. Columbus named the island _Trinidad_, having alreadydecided to dedicate the first sighted land to the Holy Trinity. Thethree mountain peaks close together seemed to render the name all themore appropriate.]

Twenty miles from that place, the Admiral found a sufficiently largeport to shelter his ships, though no river flowed into it. Sailingfarther on he finally discovered a satisfactory harbour for repairinghis vessels and also replenishing his supply of water and wood.He called this land Punta del Arenal.[4] There was no sign of anyhabitation in the neighbourhood of the harbour, but there were manytracks of animals similar to goats, and in fact the body of one ofthose animals, closely resembling a goat, was found. On the morrow, acanoe was seen in the distance carrying eighty men, all of whom wereyoung, good-looking, and of lofty stature. Besides their bows andarrows they were armed with shields, which is not the custom among theother islanders. They wore their hair long, parted in the middle,and plastered down quite in the Spanish fashion. Save for theirloin-cloths of various coloured cottons, they were entirely naked.

[Note 4: The narrative at this point is somewhat sketchy, butthe author, doubtless, faithfully recounted the events as they werereported to him. The ships approached the island from the east, andthen coasted its shore for five leagues beyond the cape named byColumbus _La Galera_, because of it's imagined resemblance to a galleyunder sail. The next day he continued his course westwards, and namedanother headland _Punta de la Playa_; this was a Wednesday, August thefirst; and as the fleet passed between La Galera and La Playa, theSouth American continent was first discovered, some twenty-fiveleagues distant. Fernando Columbus affirms that his father, thinkingit was another island, called it _Isla Santa_; but in reality Columbusnamed the continent _Tierra de Gracia_. Punta del Arenal forms thesouth-western extremity of the island and is separated by a channel,according to Columbus, two leagues broad.]

The Admiral's opinion was that this country was nearer to the sky thanany other land situated in the same parallel and that it was above thethick vapours which rose from the valleys and swamps, just as the highpeaks of lofty mountains are distant from the deep valleys. AlthoughColumbus declared that during this voyage he had followed withoutdeviation the parallel of Ethiopia, there are the greatest possiblephysical differences between the natives of Ethiopia and those of theislands; for the Ethiopians are black and have curly, woolly hair,while these natives are on the contrary white, and have long,straight, blond hair. What the causes of these differences may be, Ido not know. They are due rather to the conditions of the earth thanto those of the sky; for we know perfectly well that snow falls andlies on the mountains of the torrid zone, while in northern countriesfar distant from that zone the inhabitants are overcome by great heat.

In order to attract the natives they had met, the Admiral made themsome presents of mirrors, cups of bright polished brass, bells, andother similar trifles, but the more he called to them, the morethey drew off. Nevertheless, they looked intently and with sincereadmiration at our men, their instruments and their ships, but withoutlaying down their oars. Seeing that he could not attract them by hispresents, the Admiral ordered his trumpets and flutes to be played,on the largest ship, and the men to dance and sing a chorus. He hopedthat the sweetness of the songs and the strange sounds might win themover, but the young men imagined that the Spaniards were singingpreparatory to engaging in battle, so in the twinkling of an eye theydropped their oars and seized their bows and arrows, protecting theirarms with their shields, and, while waiting to understand the meaningof the sounds, stood ready to let fly a volley against our men. TheSpaniards sought to draw near little by little, in such wise as tosurround them; but the natives retreated from the Admiral's vesseland, confident in their ability as oarsmen, they approached so near toone of the smaller ships that from the poop a cloak was given to thepilot of the canoe, and a cap to another chief. They made signs to thecaptain of the ship to come to land, in order that they might the moreeasily come to an understanding; but when they saw that the captaindrew near to the Admiral's vessel to ask permission to land, theyfeared some trap, and quickly jumped into their canoe and sped awaywith the rapidity of the wind.

The Admiral relates that to the west of that island and not fardistant he came upon a strong current flowing from east to west.[5] Itran with such force that he compared its violence to that of a vastcataract flowing from a mountain height. He declared that he had neverbeen exposed to such serious danger since he began, as a boy, to sailthe seas. Advancing as best he could amongst these raging waves,he discovered a strait some eight miles long, which resembled theentrance of a large harbour. The current flowed towards that strait,which he called Boca de la Sierpe, naming an island beside it,Margarita. From this strait there flowed another current of freshwater, thus coming into conflict with the salt waters and causing suchwaves that there seemed to rage between the two currents a terriblecombat. In spite of these difficulties, the Admiral succeeded inpenetrating into the gulf, where he found the waters drinkable andagreeable.

[Note 5: Columbus was then near the mouth of the Orinoco River.]

Another very singular thing the Admiral has told me, and which isconfirmed by his companions (all worthy of credence and whom Icarefully questioned concerning the details of the voyage), is that hesailed twenty-six leagues, that is to say, one hundred and forty-eightmiles, in fresh water; and the farther he advanced to the west,the fresher the water became.[6] Finally, he sighted a very loftymountain, of which the eastern part was inhabited only by a multitudeof monkeys with very long tails. All this side of the mountain isvery steep, which explains why no people live there. A man, sent toreconnoitre the country, reported however that it was all cultivatedand that the fields were sown, though nowhere were there people orhuts. Our own peasants often go some distance from their homes to sowtheir fields. On the western side of the mountain was a large plain.The Spaniards were well satisfied to drop anchor in such a greatriver.[7] As soon as the natives knew of the landing of an unknownrace on their coasts, they collected about the Spaniards anxious toexamine them, and displaying not the slightest fear. It was learned bysigns that that country was called Paria, that it was very extensive,and that its population was most numerous in its western part. TheAdmiral invited four natives to come on board and continued his courseto the west.

[Note 6: See _Orinoco Illustrado_, by Gumilla, 1754, alsoSchomburgk's _Reisen in Guiana und Orinoco_. The fresh waters of theestuary are in fact driven a considerable distance out to sea.]

[Note 7: This was the first landing of the Spaniards on theAmerican continent, but Columbus, being ill, did not go on shore.Pedro de Torreros took possession in the Admiral's name (Navarrete,tom. iii., p. 569). Fernando Columbus states that his father sufferedfrom inflamed eyes, and that from about this time he was forced torely for information upon his sailors and pilots (_Storia_, cap.lxv.-lxxiii.). He seemed nevertheless to divine the immensity of thenewly discovered land, for he wrote to the sovereigns _y creoesta tierra que agora, mandaron discrubir vuestras altezzas seagrandissima_.]

Judging by the agreeable temperature, the attractiveness of thecountry, and the number of people they daily saw during their voyage,the Spaniards concluded that the country is a very important one, andin this opinion they were not wrong, as we shall demonstrate at theproper time. One morning at the break of dawn the Spaniards landed,being attracted by the charm of the country and the sweet odourswafted to them from the forests. They discovered at that point alarger number of people than they had thus far seen, and as they wereapproaching the shore, messengers came in the name of the caciquesof that country, inviting them to land and to have no fears. WhenColumbus refused, the natives urged by curiosity, flocked about theships in their barques. Most of them wore about their necks and arms,collars and bracelets of gold and ornaments of Indian pearls, whichseemed just as common amongst them as glass jewelry amongst ourwomen. When questioned as to whence came the pearls, they answered bypointing with their fingers to a neighbouring coast; by grimaces andgestures they seemed to indicate that if the Spaniards would stop withthem they would give them basketfuls of pearls. The provisions whichthe Admiral destined for the colony at Hispaniola were beginning tospoil, so he resolved to defer this commercial operation till a moreconvenient opportunity. Nevertheless he despatched two boats loadedwith soldiers, to barter with the people on land for some strings ofpearls and, at the same time, to discover whatever they could aboutthe place and its people. The natives received these men withenthusiasm and pleasure, and great numbers surrounded them, as thoughthey were inspecting something marvellous. The first who came forwardwere two distinguished persons, for they were followed by the rest ofthe crowd. The first of these men was aged and the second younger,so that it was supposed they were the father and his son and futuresuccessor. After exchanging salutations the Spaniards were conductedto a round house near a large square. Numerous seats of very blackwood decorated with astonishing skill were brought, and when theprincipal Spaniards and natives were seated, some attendants servedfood and others, drink. These people eat only fruits, of which theyhave a great variety, and very different from ours. The beverages theyoffered were white and red wine, not made from grapes but from variouskinds of crushed fruits, which were not at all disagreeable.

This repast concluded, in company with the elder chief, the youngerone conducted the Spaniards to his own house, men and women crowdingabout in great numbers, but always in separate groups from oneanother.

The natives of both sexes have bodies as white as ours, save thoseperhaps who pass their time in the sun. They were amiable, hospitable,and wore no clothes, save waist-cloths of various coloured cottonstuffs. All of them wore either collars or bracelets of gold orpearls, and some wore both, just as our peasants wear glass jewelry.When they were asked whence the gold came, they indicated with thefinger that it was from a mountainous country, appearing at thesame time to dissuade our men from going there, for they made themunderstand by gestures and signs that the inhabitants of that countrywere cannibals. It was not, however, entirely clear whether they meantcannibals or savage beasts. They were much vexed to perceive that theSpaniards did not understand them, and that they possessed no means ofmaking themselves intelligible to one another. At three o'clock inthe afternoon the men who had been sent on shore returned, bringingseveral strings of pearls, and the Admiral, who could not prolong hisstay, because of his cargo of provisions, raised anchor and sailed. Heintends, however, after putting the affairs of Hispaniola in order,shortly to return. It was another than he who profited by thisimportant discovery.

The shallowness of the sea and the numerous currents, which at eachchange of the tide dashed against and injured the lesser vessels,much retarded the Admiral's progress, and to avoid the perils of theshallows he always sent one of the lighter caravels ahead; this vesselbeing of short draught took repeated soundings and the other largerones followed. At that time two provinces of the vast region of Paria,Cumana and Manacapana, were reached, and along their shores theAdmiral coasted for two hundred miles. Sixty leagues farther on beginsanother country called Curiana. As the Admiral had already coveredsuch a distance, he thought the land lying ahead of him was an island,and that if he continued his course to the west he would be unable toget back to the north and reach Hispaniola. It was then that he cameupon the mouth of a river whose depth was thirty cubits, with anunheard-of width which he described as twenty-eight leagues. A littlefarther on, always in a westerly direction though somewhat to thesouth, since he followed the line of the coast, the Admiral sailedinto a sea of grass of which the seeds resemble those of the lentil.The density of this growth retarded the advance of the ships.

The Admiral declares that in the whole of that region the dayconstantly equals the night. The north star is elevated as in Pariato five degrees above the horizon, and all the coasts of that newlydiscovered country are on the same parallel. He likewise reportsdetails concerning the differences he observed in the heavens, whichare so contradictory to astronomical theories that I wish to make somecomments. It is proven, Most Illustrious Prince, that the polar star,which our sailors call Tramontane, is not the point of the arctic poleupon which the axis of the heavens turns. To realise this easily,it is only necessary to look through a small hole at the pole staritself, when the stars are rising. If one then looks through the sameaperture at the same star when dawn is paling the stars, it will beseen that it has changed its place; but how can it be in this newlydiscovered country that the star rises at the beginning of twilight inthe month of June to a height of only five degrees above the horizon,and when the stars are disappearing before the sunrise, it should befound by the same observer to be in the fifteenth degree? I do not atall understand it, and I must confess the reasons the Admiral givesby no means satisfy me. Indeed, according to his conjectures, theterrestrial globe is not an absolute sphere, but had at the time ofits creation a sort of elevation rising on its convex side, so thatinstead of resembling a ball or an apple, it was more like a pear, andParia would be precisely that elevated part, nearest to the sky.He has also persisted in affirming that the earthly paradise[8] issituated on the summit of those three mountains, which the watcherfrom the height of the crow's nest observed in the distance, as I haverecounted. As for the impetuous current of fresh water which rushedagainst the tide of the sea at the beginning of that strait, hemaintains that it is formed of waters which fall in cascades from theheights of these mountains. But we have had enough of these thingswhich to me seem fabulous. Let us return to our narrative.

Seeing his course across that vast gulf had, contrary to hisexpectation, been arrested, and fearing to find no exit towards thenorth through which he might reach Hispaniola, the Admiral retracedhis course and sailing north of that country he bent towards the eastin the direction of Hispaniola.

Those navigators who later explored this region more carefully believethat it is the Indian continent, and not Cuba, as the Admiral thought;and there are not wanting mariners who pretend that they have sailedall round Cuba. Whether they are right or whether they seek to gratifytheir jealousy of the author of a great discovery, I am not bound todecide.[9] Time will decide, and Time is the only truthful judge. TheAdmiral likewise discusses the question whether or not Paria isa continent; he himself thinks it is. Paria lies to the south ofHispaniola, a distance of 882 leagues, according to Columbus. Upon thethird day of the calends of September of the year 1498, he reachedHispaniola, most anxious to see again his soldiers and his brotherwhom he had left there. But, as commonly happens in human affairs,fortune, however favourable, mingles with circumstances, sweet andpleasant, some grain of bitterness. In this case it was internecinediscord which marred his happiness.

[Note 9: Rivalry and perhaps jealousy existed among thenavigators, each bent on eclipsing the achievements of his fellows,and the former feeling was a spur to enterprise. Yanez Pinzon, AmerigoVespucci, Juan Diaz de Solis all explored the American coasts,discovering Yucatan, Florida, Texas, and Honduras.]

BOOK VII

TO THE SAME CARDINAL LUDOVICO D'ARAGON

Upon his arrival at Hispaniola, the Admiral found an even greaterstate of disorder than he had feared, for Roldan had taken advantageof his absence to refuse obedience to his brother, BartholomewColumbus. Resolved not to submit to him who had formerly been hismaster and had raised him in dignity, he had stirred up the multitudein his own favour and had also vilified the Adelantado and had writtenheinous accusations to the King against the brothers. The Admirallikewise sent envoys to inform the sovereigns of the revolt, beggingthem at the same time to send soldiers to put down the insurrectionand punish the guilty, according to their crimes. Roldan and hisaccomplices preferred grave charges against the Admiral and theAdelantado, who, according to them, were impious, unjust men, enemiesto the Spaniards, whose blood they had profusely shed. They wereaccused of torturing, strangling, decapitating and, in divers otherways, killing people on the most trifling pretexts. They were envious,proud, and intolerable tyrants; therefore, people avoided them as theywould fly from wild beasts, or from the enemies of the Crown. It hadin fact been discovered that the sole thought of the brothers was tousurp the government of the island. This had been proven by differentcircumstances, but chiefly by the fact that they allowed none buttheir own partisans to work the gold-mines.

In soliciting reinforcements from the sovereigns, sufficient to dealwith the rebels according to their merits, the Admiral explained thatthose men who dared thus to accuse him were guilty of misdemeanoursand crimes; for they were debauchees, profligates, thieves, seducers,ravishers, vagabonds. They respected nothing and were perjurers andliars, already condemned by the tribunals, or fearful, owing to theirnumerous crimes, to appear before them. They had formed a factionamongst themselves, given over to violence and rapine; lazy,gluttonous, caring only to sleep and to carouse. They spared nobody;and having been brought to the island of Hispaniola originally to dothe work of miners or of camp servants, they now never moved a stepfrom their houses on foot, but insisted on being carried about theisland upon the shoulders of the unfortunate natives, as though theywere dignitaries of the State.[1] Not to lose practice in the sheddingof blood, and to exercise the strength of their arms, they invented agame in which they drew their swords, and amused themselves incutting off the heads of innocent victims with one sole blow. Whoeversucceeded in more quickly landing the head of an unfortunate islanderon the ground with one stroke, was proclaimed the bravest, and assuch was honoured.[2] Such were the mutual accusations bandied aboutbetween the Admiral and the partisans of Roldan, not to mention manyother imputations.

Meanwhile the Admiral, desiring to put a stop to the dangerous attacksof the Ciguana tribe which had revolted under the leadership ofGuarionex, sent his brother the Adelantado with ninety foot-soldiersand some horsemen against them. It may be truthfully added that aboutthree thousand of the islanders who had suffered from the invasions ofthe Ciguana tribe, who were their sworn enemies, joined forces withthe Spaniards. The Adelantado led his troops to the bank of a greatriver which waters the plain between the sea and the two extremes ofthe mountain chain of Ciguana, of which we have already spoken.He surprised two of the enemy's spies who were concealed in theunderbrush, one of whom sprang into the sea, and, swimming across theriver at its mouth, succeeded in escaping to his own people. From theone who was captured, it was learned that six thousand natives ofCiguana were hidden in the forest beyond the river and were preparedto attack the Spaniards when they crossed over. The Adelantadotherefore marched along the river bank seeking a ford. This he soonfound in the plain, and was preparing to cross the river when theCiguana warriors rushed out from the forest in compact battalions,yelling in a most horrible manner. Their appearance is fearsome andrepulsive, and they march into battle daubed with paint, as did theThracians and Agathyrses. These natives indeed paint themselves fromthe forehead to the knees, with black and scarlet colours which theyextract from certain fruits similar to pears, and which they carefullycultivate in their gardens. Their hair is tormented into a thousandstrange forms, for it is long and black, and what nature refusesthey supply by art. They look like goblins emerged from the infernalcaverns. Advancing towards our men who were trying to cross the river,they contested their passage with flights of arrows and by throwingpointed sticks; and such was the multitude of projectiles that theyhalf darkened the light of the sun, and had not the Spaniards receivedthe blows on their shields the engagement would have ended badly forthem.

A number of men were wounded in this first encounter, but theAdelantado succeeded in crossing the river and the enemy fled, theSpaniards pursuing them, though they killed few, as the islanders aregood runners. As soon as they gained the protection of the woods, theyused their bows to repulse their pursuers, for they are accustomed towoods, and run naked amongst underbrush, shrubs, and trees, like wildboars, heedless of obstacles. The Spaniards, on the contrary, werehindered amongst this undergrowth by their shields, their clothes,their long lances, and their ignorance of the surroundings. After anight passed uselessly in the woods the Adelantado, realising the nextmorning that they could catch nobody, followed the counsel of thoseislanders who are the immemorial enemies of the Ciguana tribe, andunder their guidance marched towards the mountains where the KingMaiobanexius lived at a place called Capronus. Twelve miles' marchbrought them to the village of another cacique, which had beenabandoned by its terrified inhabitants, and there he established hiscamp. Two natives were captured, from whom it was learned that KingMaiobanexius and ten caciques with eight thousand soldiers wereassembled at Capronus. During two days there were a few lightskirmishes between the parties, the Adelantado not wishing to do morethan reconnoitre the country. Scouts were sent out the following nightunder the guidance of some islanders who knew the land. The people ofCiguana caught sight of our men from the heights of their mountains,and prepared to give battle, uttering war-cries as is their custom.But they did not venture to quit their woods, because they thought theAdelantado had his entire army with him. Twice on the following day,when the Adelantado marched on with his men, the natives tested thefortune of war; hurling themselves against the Spaniards with fury,they wounded many before they could protect themselves with theirshields, but the latter, getting the better of them, pursued them,cutting some in pieces, and taking a large number prisoners. Those whoescaped took refuge in the forests, from which they were careful notto emerge.

The Adelantado selected one of the prisoners, and sending with himone of his allies, he despatched them both to Maiobanexius with thefollowing message: "The Adelantado has not undertaken to make war uponyou and your people, O Maiobanexius, for he desires your friendship;but he formally demands that Guarionex, who has taken refuge withyou and has drawn you into this conflict to the great damage of yourpeople, shall be delivered to him to be punished as he merits. Hecounsels you, therefore, to give up this cacique; if you consent, theAdmiral will count you among his friends and protect and respect yourterritory. If you refuse you will be made to repent, for your entirecountry will be devastated with fire and sword, and all you possesswill be destroyed." Maiobanexius, upon hearing this message, replied:"Everybody knows that Guarionex is a hero, adorned with all thevirtues, and therefore I have esteemed it right to assist and protecthim. As for you, you are violent and perfidious men, and seek to shedthe blood of innocent people: I will neither enter into relations withyou, nor form any alliance with so false a people."

When this answer was brought to the Adelantado, he burnt thevillage where he had established his camp and several others in theneighbourhood. He again sent envoys to Maiobanexius, to ask him toname one of his trusty advisers to treat for peace. Maiobanexiusconsented to send one of the most devoted of his counsellors,accompanied by two other chiefs. The Adelantado earnestly conjuredthem not to jeopardise the territory of Maiobanexius solely in theinterests of Guarionex. He advised Maiobanexius, if he did not wish tobe ruined himself and to be treated as an enemy, to give him up.

When his envoys returned, Maiobanexius called together his people andexplained the conditions. The people cried that Guarionex must besurrendered, cursing and execrating the day he had come amongst themto disturb their tranquillity. The cacique reminded them, however,that Guarionex was a hero, and had rendered him services when hefled to him for protection, for he had brought him royal presents.Moreover, he had taught both the cacique himself and his wife tosing and dance, a thing not to be held in mediocre consideration.Maiobanexius was determined never to surrender the prince who hadappealed to his protection, and whom he had promised to defend. He wasprepared to risk the gravest perils with him rather than to merit thereproach of having betrayed his guest. Despite the complaints of thepeople, the cacique dissolved the assembly, and calling Guarionex tohim, he pledged himself for the second time to protect him and toshare his fortunes as long as he lived.

Maiobanexius resolved to give no further information to theAdelantado: on the contrary he ordered his first messenger to stationhimself with some faithful soldiers at a place on the road where theAdelantado's envoys usually passed, and to kill any Spaniards whoappeared, without further discussion. The Adelantado had just senthis messengers, and both these men, one of whom was a prisonerfrom Ciguana and the other from amongst the native allies, weredecapitated. The Adelantado, escorted by only ten foot-soldiers andfour horsemen, followed his envoys and discovered their bodies lyingin the road, which so incensed him that he determined to no longerspare Maiobanexius. He invaded the cacique's village of Capronus withhis army. The caciques fled in every direction, abandoning theirchief, who withdrew with his entire family into places of concealmentin the mountain districts. Some others of the Ciguana people sought tocapture Guarionex, since he was the occasion of the catastrophe; buthe succeeded in escaping and concealed himself almost alone amidstthe rocks and desert mountains. The soldiers of the Adelantado wereexhausted by this long war, which dragged on for three months; thewatches, the fatigues, and the scarcity of food. In response to theirrequest they were authorised to return to Concepcion, where they ownedhandsome plantations of the native sort; and thither many withdrew.Only thirty companions remained with the Adelantado, all of whom wereseverely tried by these three months of fighting, during which theyhad eaten nothing but cazabi, that is to say, bread made of roots,and even they were not always ripe. They also procured some utias, orrabbits, by hunting with their dogs, while their only drink had beenwater, which was sometimes exquisitely fresh, but just as often muddyand marshy. Moreover the character of the war obliged them to passmost of the time in the open air and perpetual movement.

With his little troop the Adelantado determined to scour the mountainsto seek out the secret retreats where Maiobanexius and Guarionex hadconcealed themselves. Some Spaniards, who had been driven by hungerto hunt utias for want of something better, met two servants ofMaiobanexius, whom the cacique had sent into the villages of histerritory, and who were carrying back native bread. They forcedthese men to betray the hiding-place of their chief, and under theirleadership, twelve soldiers who had stained their bodies like thepeople of Ciguana succeeded by trickery in capturing Maiobanexius,his wife, and his son, all of whom they brought to the Admiral atConcepcion. A few days later hunger compelled Guarionex to emerge fromthe cavern where he was concealed, and the islanders, out of fear ofthe Admiral, betrayed him to the hunters. As soon as he learned hiswhereabouts, the Admiral sent a body of foot-soldiers to take him,just at the moment when he was about to quit the plain, and return tothe mountains. These men caught him and brought him back, after whichthat region was pacified, and tranquillity restored.

A relative of Maiobanexius who was married to a cacique whoseterritory had not yet been invaded, shared the former's misfortunes.Everybody agreed in saying that she was the most beautiful of thewomen nature had created in the island of Hispaniola. Her husbandloved her dearly, as she merited, and when she was captured by theSpaniards he almost lost his reason, and wandered distractedly indesert places, doubtful what course to pursue. Finally he presentedhimself before the Admiral, promising that he and his people wouldsubmit without conditions, if he would only restore him his wife.His prayer was granted and at the same time several others of theprincipal captives were likewise freed. This same cacique thenassembled five thousand natives who instead of weapons carriedagricultural implements, and went himself to labour and plant thecrops in one of the largest valleys in his territories. The Admiralthanked him by means of presents, and the cacique came back rejoicing.This news spread throughout Ciguana, and the other caciques began tohope that they too might be treated with clemency, so they came inperson to promise they would in future obey the orders given them.They asked that their chief and his family might be spared, and inresponse to their petition, the wife and children were delivered tothem, but Maiobanexius was held a prisoner.

While the Admiral was thus engaged in administering the affairs ofHispaniola, he was ignorant of the intrigues his adversaries werecarrying on against him at the Spanish Court.[3] Wearied by thesecontinuous quarrels, and above all annoyed at receiving but a smallquantity of gold and valuable products because of these dissensionsand revolts, the sovereigns, appointed another Governor,[4] who, aftera careful enquiry, should punish the guilty and send them back toSpain, I do not precisely know what has come to light against eitherthe Admiral or his brother the Adelantado, or their enemies; but thisis certain, that the Admiral and his brother were seized, put inirons, deprived of all their property, and brought to Spain; and ofthis, Most Illustrious Prince, you are not ignorant. It is true thatthe sovereigns, when they learned that the Columbus brothers hadarrived at Cadiz loaded with irons, promptly sent their secretaries toorder their release and that their children should be allowed tovisit them; nor did they conceal their disapproval of this roughtreatment.[5] It is claimed that the new Governor has sent to thesovereigns some letters in the handwriting of the Admiral, but incipher, in which the latter summoned his brother the Adelantado, whowas at that time absent with his soldiers, to hasten back and repelforce with force, in case the Governor sought to use violence. TheAdelantado preceded his soldiers, and the Governor seized him and hisbrother before their partisans could rejoin them. What will be theoutcome, time will show, for time is the supreme arbiter of events.Fare you well.

[Note 3: One of the most inveterate of his enemies was Juan deFonseca, afterwards Bishop of Burgos, who was unfortunately in aposition to do Columbus serious harm.]

[Note 4: Francisco de Bobadilla, commander of Calatrava.]

[Note 5: The sovereigns made what amends they could for theabusive execution of their orders by over-zealous agents; they sentColumbus a present of two thousand ducats--not an insignificant sum atthe time--and wrote him a letter, full of affectionate expressions ofconfidence; he was admitted to audience on December 17th.]

BOOK VIII

TO THE SAME CARDINAL LUDOVICO D'ARAGON

I have presented to you this immense and hitherto unknown ocean whichthe Admiral, Christopher Columbus, discovered, under the auspices ofour sovereigns, in the guise of a necklace of gold, although, owing tothe poor skill of the artisan, it is but poorly executed. Yet I havejudged it worthy, Most Illustrious Prince, of your splendour. Acceptnow a necklace of pearls which, suspended from the former, willornament your breast.

Some of the Admiral's ship-captains who had made a study of thedifferent wind-currents sought the royal permission to prosecutediscoveries at their own expense,[1] proposing to relinquish to theCrown its due, that is to say, one fifth of the profits. The mostfortunate of these adventurers was a certain Pedro Alonzo Nunez,[2]who sailed towards the south; and it is of his expedition that I willfirst write. To come at once to the essential details of this voyage,this Nunez had but one ship, fitted out at his expense, though somepeople claimed that he was helped.[3] The royal edict forbade him toanchor within fifty leagues of any place discovered by the Admiral.He sailed towards Paria, where, as I have said, Columbus found bothnative men and women wearing bracelets and necklaces of pearls. Inobedience to the royal decree he coasted along this shore, leavingbehind him the provinces of Cumana and Manacapana, and thus arrivedat a country called by its inhabitants Curiana, where he discovered aharbour quite similar to that of Cadiz.

[Note 2: Also called Nino; he had sailed with Columbus on hisfirst two voyages. Oviedo, _op. cit_., xix., I, also describes thisexpedition.]

[Note 3: Nunez was poor and only found assistance from a merchantof Seville called Guerro, on condition that the latter's brother,Christobal, should command the one ship his loan sufficed to provide.This vessel was only fifty tons burden, and carried a crew ofthirty-three persons.]

Upon entering this harbour he found a number of houses scattered alongthe banks, but when he landed it was discovered to be a group of eighthouses; about fifty men, led by their chief, promptly came from apopulous village only three miles distant. These men, who were naked,invited Alonzo Nunez to land on their coast, and he consented. Hedistributed some needles, bracelets, rings, glass pearls, and otherpedlar's trifles amongst them, and in less than an hour he obtainedfrom them in exchange fifteen ounces of the pearls they wore on theirnecks and arms. The natives embraced Nunez affectionately, insistingmore and more that he should come to their village, where theypromised to give him any amount of pearls he might desire. The nextday at dawn the ship drew near to the village and anchored. The entirepopulation assembled and begged the men to land, but Nunez, seeingthat they were very numerous and considering that he had only thirtymen, did not venture to trust himself to them. He made them understandby signs and gestures that they should come to the ship in barquesand canoes. These barques, like the others, are dug out of a singletree-trunk, but are less well shaped and less easy to handle thanthose used by the cannibals and the natives of Hispaniola. They arecalled _gallitas_. The natives all brought strings of pearls, whichare called _tenoras_, and showed themselves desirous of Spanishmerchandise.

They are amiable men; simple, innocent, and hospitable, as was madeclear after twenty days of intercourse with them. The Spaniards verysoon ceased to fear to enter their houses, which are built of woodcovered with palm leaves. Their principal food is the meat of theshellfish from which they extract pearls, and their shores aboundwith such. They likewise eat the flesh of wild animals, for deer,wild-boar, rabbits whose hair and colour resemble our hares, doves,and turtle-doves exist in their country. The women keep ducks andgeese about the houses, just as ours do; peacocks fly about in thewoods, but their colours are not so rich or so varied as ours and themale bird differs little from the female. Amongst the undergrowthin the swamps, pheasants are from time to time seen. The people ofCuriana are skilful hunters and generally with one single arrow shotthey kill beasts or birds at which they aim. The Spaniards spentseveral days amongst the abundance of the country. They traded fourneedles for a peacock, only two for a pheasant, and one for a dove ora turtle-dove. The same, or a glass bead, was given for a goose.In making their offers and bargaining and disputing, the nativesconducted their commercial affairs just about the same as do our womenwhen they are arguing with pedlars. As they wore no clothes, thenatives were puzzled to know the use of needles, but when theSpaniards satisfied their naive curiosity by showing them that needleswere useful for getting thorns from beneath the skin, and for cleaningthe teeth, they conceived a great opinion of them. Another thing whichpleased them even more was the colour and sound of hawk-bells, whichthey were ready to buy at good prices.

From the native houses the roaring of large animals[4] was audibleamidst the dense and lofty forest trees, but these animals are notfierce, for, although the natives constantly wander through thewoods with no other weapons than their bows and arrows, there is norecollection of any one being killed by these beasts. They brought theSpaniards as many deer and wild-boar, slain with their arrows, as thelatter desired. They did not possess cattle or goats or sheep, andthey ate bread made of roots and bread made of grain the same as theislanders of Hispaniola. Their hair is black, thick, half curly, andlong. They try to spoil the whiteness of their teeth, for almost theentire day they chew a herb which blackens them, and when they spit itout, they wash their mouth. It is the women who labour in the fieldsrather than the men, the latter spending their time in hunting,fighting, or leading dances and games.

[Note 4: Supposed to have been tapirs, animals unknown in Europe.]

Pitchers, cups with handles, and pots are their earthenware utensils,which they procure from elsewhere, for they frequently hold markets,which all the neighbouring tribes attend, each bringing the productsof his country to be exchanged for those of other places. In fact,there is nobody who is not delighted to obtain what is not to be hadat home, because the love of novelty is an essential sentimentof human nature. They hang little birds and other small animals,artistically worked in base gold,[5] to their pearls. These trinketsthey obtain by trade, and the metal resembles the German gold used forcoining florins.

[Note 5: A kind of alloyed gold called by the natives _guanin_;the Spaniards were often deceived by its glitter.]

The men either carry their private parts enclosed in a little gourdwhich has been opened at the back, like our cod-piece, or they use aseashell. The gourd hangs from a cord tied round the waist.[6] Thepresence of the animals above mentioned, and many other indicationsnot found in any of the islands, afford evidence that this land is acontinent. The most conclusive proof[7] seems to be that the Spaniardsfollowed the coast of Paria for a distance of about three thousandmiles always in a westerly direction, but without discovering anyend to it. When asked whence they procured their gold, the people ofCuriana answered that it came from a country called Cauchieta situatedabout six suns distant (which means six days) to the west, and that itwas the artisans of that region who worked the gold into the form inwhich they saw it. The Spaniards sailed towards Cauchieta and anchoredthere near the shore on the calends of November, 1500. The nativesfearlessly approached and brought them gold, which in its rough stateis not valued amongst them. The people also wore pearls round theirthroats; but these came from Curiana, where they had been obtained inexchange for gold, and none of them wanted to part with anything theyhad obtained by trade. That is to say the people of Curiana kept theirgold, and the people of Cauchieta their pearls, so that very littlegold was obtained at Cauchieta.[8] The Spaniards brought away somevery pretty monkeys and a number of parrots of varied colours, fromthat country.

The temperature in the month of November was delicious, without a signof cold. Each evening the stars which mark the north pole disappeared,so near is that region to the equator; but it was not possible tocalculate precisely the polar degrees. The natives are sensible andnot suspicious, and some of the people of Curiana passed the entirenight in company with our men, coming out in their barques to jointhem. Pearls they call _corixas_. They are jealous, and when strangersvisit them, they make their women withdraw behind the house, fromwhence the latter examine the guests as though they were prodigies.Cotton is plentiful and grows wild in Cauchieta, just as shrubs do inour forests, and of this they make trousers which they wear.

Continuing their course along the same coast, the Spaniards suddenlyencountered about two thousand men armed according to the fashion ofthe country, who prevented them from landing. They were so barbarousand ferocious that it was impossible to establish the smallestrelations with them or to effect any trade; so, as our men weresatisfied with the pearls they had procured, they returned by thesame course to Curiana, where they remained for another twenty daysbountifully supplied with provisions.

It seems to me neither out of place nor useless to this history, tohere narrate what happened when they arrived within sight of thecoasts of Paria. They encountered by chance a squadron of eighteencanoes full of cannibals engaged in a man-hunt: this was near the Bocade la Sierpe and the strait leading to the gulf of Paria, which I havebefore described. The cannibals unconcernedly approached the ship,surrounding it, and shooting flights of arrows and javelins at ourmen. The Spaniards replied by a cannon shot, which promptly scatteredthem. In pursuing them, the ship's boat came up with one of theircanoes, but was able to capture only a single cannibal and a boundprisoner, the others having all escaped by swimming. This prisonerburst into tears, and by his gestures and rolling his eyes, gave itto be understood that six of his companions had been cruellydisembowelled, cut into pieces, and devoured by those monsters, andthat the same fate awaited him on the morrow. They made him a presentof the cannibal, upon whom he immediately threw himself, gnashing histeeth and belabouring him with blows of a stick and his fists and withkicks, for he believed that the death of his companions would not besufficiently avenged till he beheld the cannibal insensible and beatenblack and blue. When questioned as to the customs and usages of thecannibals when they made expeditions to other countries, he saidthey always carried with them, wherever they went, sticks preparedbeforehand which they planted in the ground at the place of theirencampment, and beneath whose shelter they passed the night.

Hanging over the door of one of the chieftains in Curiana, theSpaniards found the head of a cannibal, which was regarded as a sortof standard or helmet captured from the enemy, and constituted a greathonour for this chief.

There is a district on the coast of Paria, called Haraia, which isremarkable for a peculiar kind of salt found there. It is a vast plainover which the waves of the sea are driven in heavy weather andwhen the waves subside and the sun comes out, the pools of watercrystallise into masses of the whitest salt, in sufficient quantityfor the natives to load all the ships that sail, did they arrivebefore it rained. The first rainfall melts the salt, which is thenabsorbed by the sands and thus returns through fissures in the earth,to the sea which produces it. Others pretend that this plain is notinundated by the sea, but that it possesses saline springs, morebitter than sea water, which send forth their waters when the tempestrages. The natives set great store on these salines, and they notonly use the salt in the same way that we do, but they mould it intobrick-shaped forms and trade it to foreigners for articles which theydo not themselves possess.

The bodies of the chiefs of the country are laid upon biers underwhich a slow fire is lighted which consumes the flesh, little bylittle, but leaves the bones and the skin intact. These dried bodiesare then piously preserved, as though they were their _penates_. TheSpaniards say that in one district they saw a man being thus dried forpreservation and in another a woman.

When, on the eighth day of the ides of February, the Spaniards wereready to leave the country of Curiana, they found they had ninety-sixpounds of pearls at eight ounces to the pound, which they had obtainedat an average price of five cents.

Although their return voyage was shorter than when they came fromHispaniola, it lasted sixty-one days, because continual currentsrunning from east to west not only retarded their speed, but sometimescompletely stopped the ship. Finally they arrived, loaded with pearlslike other people come loaded with straw. The commander, Pedro AlonzoNunez, concealed an important quantity of valuable pearls, and thuscheated the royal revenues, to which a fifth of all merchandisebelongs.[9] His fellows denounced him, and Fernando de Vega, a learnedstatesman, who was Governor of Galicia where they landed, arrestedhim, and he was held in prison for a long time, but was finallyreleased; and even to this day he still claims they robbed him of hisshare of the pearls. Many of these stones are as large as nuts, andresemble oriental pearls, but as they are badly pierced, they are lessvaluable.

[Note 9: Navarrete, iii., 78. The treasure was sold in August,1501, and the proceeds divided among the sailors.]

One day, when lunching with the illustrious Duke of Medina-Sidonia inSeville, I saw one of these pearls which had been presented to him. Itweighed more than a hundred ounces, and I was charmed by its beautyand brilliancy. Some people claim that Nunez did not find these pearlsat Curiana, which is more than one hundred and twenty leagues distantfrom Boca de la Sierpe, but in the little districts of Cumana andManacapana near by the Boca and the island of Margarita. They declarethat Curiana is not rich in pearls. This question has not beendecided; so let us treat of another subject. You now perceive what, inthe course of years, may be the value of this newly discovered countryand western coasts, since after a superficial exploration they haveyielded such evidences of wealth.

BOOK IX

TO THE SAME CARDINAL LUDOVICO D'ARAGON

Vincent Yanez Pinzon and his nephew Arias, who accompanied the AdmiralColumbus on his first voyage as captains of two of the smaller vesselswhich I have above described as caravels, desirous of undertaking newexpeditions and making fresh discoveries, built at their own expensefour caravels in their native port of Palos, as it is called by theSpaniards.[1] They sought the authorisation of the King and towardsthe calends of December, 1499, they left port. Now Palos is on thewestern coast of Spain, situated about seventy-two miles distant fromCadiz and sixty-four miles from Seville in Andalusia, and all theinhabitants without exception are seafaring people, exclusivelyoccupied in navigation.

[Note 1: An interesting account of this expedition may be read inWashington Irving's _Companions of Columbus_; see also Navarrete, _op.cit_., 82, 102, 113.]

Pinzon coasted along the Fortunate Isles,[2] and first laid his coursefor the Hesperides, otherwise called the islands of Cape Verde, orstill better, the Medusian Gorgons. Sailing directly south on theides of January, from that island of the Hesperides called by thePortuguese San Juan, they sailed before the south-west wind for aboutthree hundred leagues, after which they lost sight of the north star.As soon as it disappeared they were caught in winds and currentsand continual tempests, though in spite of these great dangers theyaccomplished by the aid of this wind two hundred and forty leagues.The north star was no longer to be seen. They are in contradictionwith the ancient poets, philosophers, and cosmographers over thequestion whether that portion of the world on the equinoctial lineis or is not an inaccessible desert. The Spaniards affirm that it isinhabited by numerous peoples,[3] while the ancient writers maintainthat it is uninhabitable because of the perpendicular rays of the sun.I must admit, however, that even amongst ancient authorities some havebeen found who sought to maintain that that part of the world washabitable.[4] When I asked the sailors of the Pinzons if they had seenthe polar star to the south, they said that they had seen no starresembling the polar star of our hemisphere, but they did see entirelydifferent stars,[5] and hanging on the higher horizon a thick sort ofvapour which shut off the view. They believe that the middle partof the globe rises to a ridge,[6] and that the antarctic star isperceptible after that elevation is passed. At all events they haveseen constellations entirely different from those of our hemisphere.Such is their story, which I give you as they told it. _Davi sunt, nonOedipi_.[7]

[Note 3: The sub-equatorial regions of Africa had already beenvisited by numerous navigators since the time of Prince Henry ofPortugal, and the fact that they were inhabited was well known to theSpaniards.]

[Note 4: Plato, Cicero, Aristotle, Anaxagoras, Mela, and otherswere amongst those who believed in the existence of the Antipodes.]

[Note 5: Aristotle, _De Caelo et Terra_, ii., 14. The constellationof the Southern Cross was known from the writings of the Arabgeographers.]

[Note 6: First noted by Columbus in a letter written fromHispaniola in October, 1498.]

[Note 7: _Davus sum non Oedipus_, Andria, Act I, Scene II. Thequotation, transposed by Martyr from the singular into the pluralnumber, is from Terrence, Davus being a comic character in the comedyof _Andria_.]

On the seventh day of the calends of February, land was finallydiscovered on the horizon.[8] As the sea was troubled, soundings weretaken and the bottom found at sixteen fathoms. Approaching the coastthey landed at a place where they remained two entire days withoutseeing a single inhabitant, though some traces of human beings werefound on the banks. After writing their names and the name of theKing, with some details of their landing, on the trees and rocks, theSpaniards departed. Guiding themselves by some fires they saw duringthe night, they encountered not far from their first landing-placea tribe encamped and sleeping in the open air. They decided not todisturb them until daybreak and when the sun rose forty men, carryingarms, marched towards the natives. Upon seeing them, thirty-twosavages, armed with bows and javelins, advanced, followed by the restof the troop armed in like manner. Our men relate that these nativeswere larger than Germans or Hungarians. With frowning eyes andmenacing looks they scanned our compatriots, who thought it unwise touse their arms against them. Whether they acted thus out of fear or toprevent them running away, I am ignorant, but at any rate, they soughtto attract the natives by gentle words and by offering them presents;but the natives showed themselves determined to have no relation withthe Spaniards, refusing to trade and holding themselves ready tofight. They limited themselves to listening to the Spaniards' speechand watching their gestures, after which both parties separated.The natives fled the following night at midnight, abandoning theirencampment.

[Note 8: The present Cape San Augustin; it was sighted Jan. 28,1500, and named Santa Maria de la Consolacion.]

The Spaniards describe these people as a vagabond race similar to theScythians, who had no fixed abode but wandered with their wives andchildren from one country to another at the harvest seasons. Theyswear that the footprints left upon the sand show them to have feettwice as large as those of a medium-sized man.[9] Continuing theirvoyage, the Spaniards arrived at the mouth of another river, whichwas, however, too shallow for the caravels to enter. Four shallops ofsoldiers were therefore sent to land and reconnoitre. They observedon a hillock near the bank a group of natives, to whom they sent amessenger to invite them to trade. It is thought the natives wanted tocapture one of the Spaniards and take him with them, for, in exchangefor a hawk's-bell which he had offered them as an attraction, theythrew a golden wedge of a cubit's length towards the messenger, andwhen the Spaniard stooped to take up the piece of gold, the nativessurrounded him in less time than it takes to tell it, and tried todrag him off. He managed to defend himself against his assailants,using his sword and buckler until such time as his companions in theboats could come to his assistance. To conclude in a few words, sinceyou spoke to me so urgently of your approaching departure, the nativeskilled eight of the Spaniards and wounded several others with theirarrows and javelins. They attacked the barques with great daring fromthe river banks, seeking to drag the boats ashore; although they werekilled like sheep by sword strokes and lance thrusts (for they werenaked); they did not on that account yield. They even succeeded incarrying off one of the barques, which was empty, and whose pilot hadbeen struck by an arrow and killed. The other barques succeeded inescaping, and thus the Spaniards left these barbarous natives.

[Note 9: One of the numerous tales of giants in America, whichcirculated and for a long time obtained credence.]

Much saddened by the loss of their companions, the Spaniards followedthe same coast in a north-westerly direction and, after proceedingsome forty leagues, they arrived at a sea whose waters aresufficiently fresh to admit of their replenishing their supply ofdrinking water. Seeking the cause of this phenomenon they discoveredthat several swift rivers which pour down from the mountains cametogether at that point, and flowed into the sea.[10] A number ofislands dotted this sea, which are described as remarkable fortheir fertility and numerous population. The natives are gentle andsociable, but these qualities are of little use to them because theydo not possess the gold or precious stones which the Spaniards seek.Thirty-six of them were taken prisoners. The natives call that entireregion Mariatambal. The country to the east of this great river iscalled Canomora, and that on the west Paricora. The natives gave itto be understood by signs that in the interior of the country gold ofgood quality was found. Continuing their march, directly north, butalways following the windings of the coast, the Spaniards againsighted the polar star. All this coast is a part of Paria, that landso rich in pearls which Columbus himself discovered, as we haverelated; he being the real author of these discoveries. The coastreconnoitred by the Pinzons continues past the Boca de la Sierpe,already described, and the districts of Cumana, Manacapana, Curiana,Cauchieta, and Cauchibachoa, and it is thought that it extends to thecontinent of India.[11] It is evident that this coast is too extendedto belong to an island, and yet, if one takes it altogether, the wholeuniverse may be called an island.[12]

From the time when they left the land where they lost sight of thepole star, until they reached Paria, the Spaniards report thatthey proceeded towards the west for a distance of three hundreduninterrupted leagues. Midway they discovered a large river calledMaragnon, so large in fact that I suspect them of exaggerating; forwhen I asked them on their return from their voyage if this river wasnot more likely a sea separating two continents, they said that thewater at its mouth was fresh, and that this quality increased thefarther one mounted the river. It is dotted with islands and fullof fish. They above all declare that is it more than thirty leaguesbroad, and that its waters flow with such impetuosity that the searecedes before its current.[13]

[Note 13: The mouth of the Maragnon or Amazon is, in fact, sixtyleagues wide.]

When we recall what is told of the northern and southern mouths ofthe Danube, which drive back the waters of the sea to such a greatdistance and may be drunk by sailors, we cease to be astonished if theriver described be represented as still larger. What indeed hindersnature from creating a river even larger than the Danube, or indeeda still larger one than the Maragnon? I think it is some river[14]already mentioned by Columbus when he explored the coasts of Paria.But all these problems will be elucidated later, so let us now turnour attention to the natural products of the country.

[Note 14: Referring to the Orinoco.]

In most of the islands of Paria the Spaniards found a forest ofred-coloured wood, of which they brought back three thousand pounds.This is the wood which the Italians call _verzino_ and the Spaniardsbrazil wood. They claim that the dye-woods of Hispaniola are superiorfor the dyeing of wools. Profiting by the north-west wind, which theItalians call the _grecco_[15] they sailed past numerous islands,depopulated by the ravages of the cannibals, but fertile, for theydiscovered numerous traces of destroyed villages. Here and there theydescried natives, who, prompted by fear, quickly fled to the mountaincrags and the depths of the forests, as soon as they saw the shipsappear. These people no longer had homes but wandered at large becausethey feared the cannibals. Huge trees were discovered, which producewhat is commonly called cinnamon-bark and which is claimed to bejust as efficacious for driving off fevers as the cinnamon which theapothecaries sell. At that season the cinnamon was not yet ripe. Iprefer to rely on those who have made these reports rather than toweary myself to discuss these questions. Pinzon's men further claimthat they have found huge trees in that country which sixteen menholding hands and forming a circle could scarcely encompass with theirarms.

An extraordinary animal[16] inhabits these trees, of which the muzzleis that of the fox, while the tail resembles that of a marmoset, andthe ears those of a bat. Its hands are like man's, and its feet likethose of an ape. This beast carries its young wherever it goes ina sort of exterior pouch, or large bag. You have seen one of theseanimals, at the same time that I did. It was dead, but you havemeasured it, and you have wondered at that pouch or curious stomachwith which nature has provided this remarkable animal for carryingits young and protecting them either against hunters or beasts.Observation has proven that this animal never takes its young out ofthis pouch save when they are at play or nursing, until the time comeswhen they are able to fend for themselves. The Spaniards captured onesuch with its young, but the little ones died one after another, onshipboard. The mother survived a few months, but was unable to bearthe change of climate and food. Enough, however, about this animal,and let us return to the discoverers.

[Note 16: The animal here described is doubtless the opossum; theonly non-Australian marsupial found in America.]

The Pinzons, uncle and nephew, have endured severe hardships duringthis voyage. They had explored six hundred leagues along the coastof Paria, believing themselves the while to be at the other side ofCathay on the coast of India, not far from the river Ganges, when inthe month of July they were overtaken by such a sudden and violentstorm that, of the four caravels composing the squadron, two wereengulfed before their eyes. The third was torn from its anchorage anddisappeared; the fourth held good, but was so shattered that its seamsalmost burst. The crew of this fourth ship, in despair of savingit, landed. They did not know what to do next, and first thought ofbuilding a village and then of killing all the neighbouring people toforestall being massacred themselves. But happily the luck changed.The tempest ceased; the caravel which had been driven off by the furyof the elements returned with eighty of the crew, while the othership, which held to her anchorage, was saved. It was with theseships that, after being tossed by the waves and losing many of theirfriends, they returned to Spain, landing at their native town ofPalos, where their wives and children awaited them. This was the eveof the calends of October.

Pinzon's companions brought a quantity of woods[17] which theybelieved to be cinnamon and ginger; but, to excuse the poor quality ofthese spices, they said they were not ripe when they were gathered.Baptista Elysius, who is a remarkable philosopher and doctor ofmedicine, was in possession of certain small stones they had gatheredon the shores of that region, and he thinks they are topazes. He toldyou this in my presence. Following the Pinzons and animated by thespirit of imitation, other Spaniards have made long voyages toward thesouth, following the track of their forerunners, such as Columbus,and coasting, in my opinion, along the shores of Paria. These latterexplorers have collected cinnamon bark, and that precious substancethe fumes of which banish headaches, and which the Spaniards call_Anime Album_.[18] I have learned nothing else worthy of yourattention; thus I will conclude my narration since you hasten me byannouncing your departure.

[Note 17: Pinzon obtained license to sell a quantity of brazilwood to pay his debts, his creditors having seized the ships and theircargoes.]

Nevertheless, to conclude my decade, listen still to some detailsconcerning the ridiculous superstitions of Hispaniola. If it is nota decade in the style of Livy, it is only because its author, yourMartyr, has not been blessed, as he should have been according to thetheory of Pythagoras, with the spirit of Livy. You also know whatmountains in travail bring forth. These things are only the fanciesof the islanders; nevertheless, though fanciful, they are moreinteresting than the true histories of Lucian, for they really doexist in the form of beliefs, while the histories were invented as apastime; one may smile at those who believe them.

The Spaniards lived for some time in Hispaniola without suspectingthat the islanders worshipped anything else than the stars, or thatthey had any kind of religion; I have indeed several times reportedthat these islanders only adored the visible stars and the heavens.But after mingling with them for some years, and the languagesbecoming mutually intelligible, many of the Spaniards began to noticeamong them divers ceremonies and rites. Brother Roman,[19] a hermit,who went, by order of Columbus, amongst the caciques to instruct themin the principles of Christianity, has written a book in the Spanishlanguage on the religious rites of the islanders. I undertake toreview this work, leaving out some questions of small importance. Inow offer it to you as follows:

It is known that the idols to whom the islanders pay public worshiprepresent goblins which appear to them in the darkness, leading theminto foolish errors; for they make images, in the forms of seatedfigures, out of plaited cotton, tightly stuffed inside, to representthese nocturnal goblins and which resemble those our artists paintupon walls.

[Note 19: Roman Pane was a Jeronymite friar who, as here stated,wrote by order of Columbus. His work was in twenty-six chapterscovering eighteen pages, and was inserted at the end of thesixty-first chapter of the _Storia_ of Fernando Columbus. The originalSpanish MS. is lost, the text being known in an Italian translationpublished in Venice in 1571. Brasseur de Bourbourg published a Frenchtranslation in his work on Yucatan, _Relation des Choses de Yucatan deDiego Landa_. Paris, 1864.]

I have sent you four of these images, and you have been able toexamine them and verify their resemblance to the goblins. You willalso be able to describe them to the most serene King, your uncle,better than I could do in writing. The natives call these images_zemes_. When they are about to go into battle, they tie small imagesrepresenting little demons upon their foreheads, for which reasonthese figures, as you will have seen, are tied round with strings.They believe that the _zemes_ send rain or sunshine in response totheir prayers, according to their needs. They believe the _zemes_ tobe intermediaries between them and God, whom they represent as one,eternal, omnipotent, and invisible. Each cacique has his _zemes_,which he honours with particular care. Their ancestors gave to thesupreme and eternal Being two names, Iocauna and Guamaonocon. But thissupreme Being was himself brought forth by a mother, who has fivenames, Attabeira, Mamona, Guacarapita, Iella, and Guimazoa.

Listen now to their singular beliefs relating to the origin of man.There exists in Hispaniola a district called Caunauna, where the humanrace took its origin in a cavern on a certain mountain. The greaternumber of men came forth from the larger apertures, and the lessernumber from the smaller apertures of this cavern. Such are theirsuperstitions. The rock on whose side the opening of this cavernis found is called Cauta, and the largest of the caverns is calledCazabixaba, the smaller Amaiauna. Before mankind was permitted to comeforth, they ingeniously affirm that each night the mouths of thecaves were confided to the custody of a man called Machochael. ThisMachochael, having deserted the two caves from a motive of curiosity,was surprised by the sun, whose rays he could not endure, and so waschanged into stone. They relate amongst their absurdities that whenmen came out of their caverns in the night because they sought to sinand could not get back before the rising of the sun, which they wereforbidden to see, they were tranformed into myrobolane trees,[20] ofwhich Hispaniola plentiously produces great numbers.

[Note 20: This name is comprehensive of several kinds of treeswhose fruits are used in compounding astringent and slightly purgativemedicines.]

They also say that a chief called Vagoniona sent from the cavern wherehe kept his family shut up, a servant to go fishing. This servant,being surprised by the sun, was likewise turned in like manner into anightingale. On every anniversary of his transformation he fills thenight air with songs, bewailing his misfortunes and imploring hismaster Vagoniona to come to his help. Such is the explanation theygive for the nightingale's song. As for Vagoniona, he dearly lovedthis servant, and therefore deeply lamented him; he shut up all themen in the cavern and only brought out with him the women and nursingchildren, whom he led to an island called Mathinino, off the coasts;there he abandoned the women and brought back the children with him.These unfortunate infants were starving, and upon reaching the riverbank they cried "_Toa, Toa_" (that is like children crying, Mamma,Mamma), and immediately they were turned into frogs. It is for thisreason that in the springtime the frogs make these sounds, and it isalso the reason why men alone are frequently found in the cavernsof Hispaniola, and not women. The natives say that Vagoniona stillwanders about the island, and that by a special boon he always remainsas he was. He is supposed to go to meet a beautiful woman, perceivedin the depths of the sea, from whom are obtained the white shellscalled by the natives _cibas_, and other shells of a yellowish colourcalled _guianos_, of both of which they make necklaces. The caciquesin our own time regard these trinkets as sacred.[21]

Here is a more serious tradition concerning the origin of the sea.[22]There formerly lived in the island a powerful chief named Jaia whoburied his only son in a gourd. Several months later, distracted bythe loss of his son, Jaia visited the gourd. He pried it open and outof it he beheld great whales and marine monsters of gigantic size comeforth. Thus he reported to some of his neighbours that the sea wascontained in that gourd. Upon hearing this story, four brothers bornat a birth and who had lost their mother when they were born sought toobtain possession of the gourd for the sake of the fish. But Jaia, whooften visited the mortal remains of his son, arrived when the brothersheld the gourd in their hands. Frightened at being thus taken in theact both of sacrilege and robbery, they dropped the gourd, whichbroke, and took flight. From the broken gourd the sea rushed forth;the valley was filled, the immense plain which formed the universe wasflooded, and only the mountains raised their heads above the water,forming the islands, several of which still exist to-day. This, MostIllustrious Prince, is the origin of the sea, nor need you imaginethat the islander who has handed down this tradition does not enjoythe greatest consideration. It is further related that the fourbrothers, in terror of Jaia, fled in different directions and almostdied of hunger because they dared stop nowhere. Nevertheless, pressedby famine, they knocked at the door of a baker and asked him for_cazabi_, that is to say, for bread. The baker spit with such forceupon the first who entered, that an enormous tumour was formed, ofwhich he almost died. After deliberating amongst themselves, theyopened the tumour, with a sharp stone, and from it came forth a womanwho became the wife of each of the four brothers, one after another,and bore them sons and daughters.

[Note 22: Diego Landa, in his _Cosas de Yucatan_, and Cogolludo(_Hist. de Yucatan_), treat this subject. Peter Martyr likewiseelaborates it in his letters to Pomponius Laetus and the Cardinal deSanta Croce. _Opus Epistolarum_, ep. 177 and 180.]

Another story, most illustrious Prince, is still more quaint. There isa cavern called Jouanaboina, situated in the territory of a caciquecalled Machinnech, which is venerated with as great respect by themajority of the islanders as were formerly the caves of Corinth, ofCyrrha, and Nissa amongst the Greeks.[23] The walls of this cavernare decorated with different paintings; two sculptured zemes, calledBinthiatelles and Marohos, stand at the entrance.

[Note 23: The caverns of Hayti have been visited and described byDecourtilz, _Voyage d'un Naturaliste_. Some of them contain carvingsrepresenting serpents, frogs, deformed human figures in distortedpostures, etc.]

When asked why this cavern is reverenced, the natives gravely replythat it is because the sun and moon issued forth from it to illuminatethe universe. They go on pilgrimages to that cavern just as we goto Rome, or to the Vatican, Compostela, or the Holy Sepulchre atJerusalem.

Another kind of superstition is as follows. They believe the dead walkby night and feed upon _guarina_, a fruit resembling the quince,but unknown in Europe. These ghosts love to mix with the living anddeceive women. They take on the form of a man, and seem to wish toenjoy a woman's favour, but when about to accomplish their purposethey vanish into thin air. If any one thinks, upon feeling somethingstrange upon his bed, that there is a spectre lying beside him, heonly needs to assure himself by touching his belly, for, according totheir idea, the dead may borrow every human member except the navel.If therefore the navel is absent, they know that it is a ghost, andit is sufficient to touch it to make it immediately disappear. Theseghosts frequently appear by night to the living, and very often on thepublic highways; but if the traveller is not frightened, the spectrevanishes. If, on the contrary, he allows himself to be frightened, theterror inspired by the apparition is such that many of the islanderscompletely lose their heads and self-possession. When the Spaniardsasked who ever had infected them with this mass of ridiculous beliefs,the natives replied that they received them from their ancestors, andthat they have been preserved from time immemorial in poems which onlythe sons of chiefs are allowed to learn. These poems are learnt byheart, for they have no writing; and on feast days the sons of chiefssing them to the people, in the form of sacred chants.[24] Their onlymusical instrument is a concave sonorous piece of wood which is beatenlike a drum.

It is the augurs, called bovites, who encourage these superstitions.These men, who are persistent liars, act as doctors for the ignorantpeople, which gives them a great prestige, for it is believed that thezemes converse with them and reveal the future to them.

If a sick man recovers the bovites persuade him that he owes hisrestoration to the intervention of the zemes. When they undertake tocure a chief, the bovites begin by fasting and taking a purge. Thereis an intoxicating herb which they pound up and drink, after whichthey are seized with fury like the maenads, and declare that the zemesconfide secrets to them. They visit the sick man, carrying in theirmouth a bone, a little stone, a stick, or a piece of meat. Afterexpelling every one save two or three persons designated by the sickperson, the bovite begins by making wild gestures and passing hishands over the face, lips, and nose, and breathing on the forehead,temples, and neck, and drawing in the sick man's breath. Thus hepretends to seek the fever in the veins of the sufferer. Afterwards herubs the shoulders, the hips, and the legs, and opens the hands; ifthe hands are clenched he pulls them wide open, exposing the palm,shaking them vigorously, after which he affirms that he has driven offthe sickness and that the patient is out of danger. Finally he removesthe piece of meat he was carrying in his mouth like a juggler, andbegins to cry, "This is what you have eaten in excess of your wants;now you will get well because I have relieved you of that which youate." If the doctor perceives that the patient gets worse, he ascribesthis to the zemes, who, he declares, are angry because they have nothad a house constructed for them, or have not been treated with properrespect, or have not received their share of the products of thefield. Should the sick man die, his relatives indulge in magicalincantations to make him declare whether he is the victim of fate orof the carelessness of the doctor, who failed to fast properly or gavethe wrong remedy. If the man died through the fault of the doctor, therelatives take vengeance on the latter. Whenever the women succeed inobtaining the piece of meat which the bovites hold in their mouths,they wrap it with great respect in cloths and carefully preserve it,esteeming it to be a talisman of great efficacy in time of childbirth,and honouring it as though it were a zemes.

The islanders pay homage to numerous zemes, each person having hisown. Some are made of wood, because it is amongst the trees and in thedarkness of night they have received the message of the gods. Others,who have heard the voice amongst the rocks, make their zemes of stone;while others, who heard the revelation while they were cultivatingtheir ages--that kind of cereal I have already mentioned,--make theirsof roots.

Perhaps they think that these last watch over their bread-making.It was thus that the ancients believed that the dryads, hamadryads,satyrs, pans, nereids, watched over the fountains, forests, andseas, attributing to each force in nature a presiding divinity. Theislanders of Hispaniola even believe that the zemes respond to theirwishes when they invoke them. When the caciques wish to consult thezemes, concerning the result of a war, about the harvest, or theirhealth, they enter the houses sacred to them and there absorb theintoxicating herb called _kohobba_, which is the same as that used bythe bovites to excite their frenzy. Almost immediately they believethey see the room turn upside down, and men walking with their headsdownwards. This kohobba powder is so strong that those who take itlose consciousness; when the stupefying action of the powder beginsto wane, the arms and hands become loose and the head droops. Afterremaining for some time in this attitude, the cacique raises his head,as though he were awakening from sleep, and, lifting his eyes to theheavens, begins to stammer some incoherent words. His chief attendantsgather round him (for none of the common people are admitted to thesemysteries), raising their voices in thanksgiving that he has soquickly left the zemes and returned to them. They ask him what he hasseen, and the cacique declares that he was in conversation withthe zemes during the whole time, and as though he were still in aprophetic delirium, he prophesies victory or defeat, if a war is to beundertaken, or whether the crops will be abundant, or the coming ofdisaster, or the enjoyment of health, in a word, whatever first occursto him.

Can you feel surprised after this, Most Illustrious Prince, at thespirit of Apollo which inspired the fury of the Sibyls? You thoughtthat that ancient superstition had perished, but you see that such isnot the case. I have treated here in a general sense all that concernsthe zemes, but I think I should not omit certain particulars. Thecacique Guamaretus had a zemes called Corochotus, which he hadfixed in the highest part of his house. It is said that Corochotusfrequently came down, after having broken his bonds. This happenedwhenever he wished to make love or eat or hide himself; and sometimeshe disappeared for several days, thus showing his anger at having beenneglected and not sufficiently honoured by the cacique Guamaretus.One day two children, wearing crowns, were born in the house ofGuamaretus; it was thought that they were the sons of the zemesCorochotus. Guamaretus was defeated by his enemies in a pitchedbattle; his palace and town were burnt and destroyed; and Corochotusburst his bonds and sprang out of the house, and was found a stadiumdistant.

Another zemes, Epileguanita, was represented in the form of aquadruped, carved out of wood. He often left the place where hewas venerated and fled into the forests. And each time that hisworshippers heard of his flight, they assembled and sought himeverywhere with devout prayers. When found, they brought himreverently on their shoulders back to the sanctuary sacred to him.When the Christians landed in Hispaniola, Epileguanita fled andappeared no more, which was considered a sinister forecast of themisfortunes of the country. These traditions are handed down by theold men.

The islanders venerate another zemes, made of marble, which is ofthe feminine sex, and is accompanied by two male zemes who serve asattendants; one acting as herald to summon other zemes to the woman'sassistance when she wishes to raise storms or draw down clouds andrains; the other is supposed to collect the water which flows downfrom the high mountains into the valleys, and upon the command of thefemale zemes to let it loose in the form of torrents which devastatethe country whenever the islanders have failed to pay her idol thehonours due to it. One more thing worthy of remembrance and I shallhave finished my book. The natives of Hispaniola were much impressedby the arrival of the Spaniards. Formerly two caciques, of whom onewas the father of Guarionex, fasted for fifteen days in order toconsult the zemes about the future. This fast having disposed thezemes in their favour, they answered that within a few years a race ofmen wearing clothes would land in the island and would overthrow theirreligious rites and ceremonies, massacre their children, and make themslaves. This prophecy had been taken by the younger generation toapply to the cannibals; and thus whenever it became known that thecannibals had landed anywhere, the people took flight without evenattempting any resistance. But when the Spaniards landed, theislanders then referred the prophecy to them, as being the peoplewhose coming was announced. And in this they were not wrong, for theyare all under the dominion of the Christians, and those who resistedhave been killed; all the zemes having been removed to Spain, to teachus the foolishness of those images and the deceits of devils, nothingremaining of them but a memory. I have brought some things to yourknowledge, Most Illustrious Prince, and you will learn many otherslater, since you will probably leave to-morrow to accompany yourgreat-aunt to Naples, in obedience to the orders of your uncle, KingFrederick. You are ready to leave and I am weary. Therefore, fareyou well, and keep the remembrance of your Martyr, whom you haveconstrained in the name of your uncle, Frederick, to choose these fewfrom amongst many great things.

BOOK X

AND EPILOGUE TO THE DECADE

TO INIGO LOPEZ MENDOZA, COUNT OF TENDILLA, VICEROY OF GRANADA

I have been prompted by the letters of my friends and of highpersonages to compose a complete chronicle of all that has happenedsince the first discoveries and the conquest of the ocean by Columbus,and of all that shall occur. My correspondents were lost in admirationat the thought of these discoveries of islands, inhabited by unknownpeoples, living without clothes and satisfied with what nature gavethem, and they were consumed by desire to be kept regularly informed.Ascanio, whose authority never allowed my pen to rest, was degradedfrom the high position he occupied when his brother Ludovico[1] wasdriven by the French from Milan. I had dedicated the first two booksof this decade to him, without mentioning many other treatises I hadselected from my unedited memoirs. Simultaneously with his overthrow Iceased to write, for, buffeted by the storm, he ceased to exhort me,while my fervour in making enquiries languished; but in the year 1500,when the Court was in residence at Granada, Ludovico, Cardinal ofAragon, and nephew of King Frederick, who had accompanied the Queenof Naples, sister of King Frederick, to Grenada, sent me lettersaddressed to me by the King himself, urging me to select the necessarydocuments and to continue the first two books addressed to Ascanio.The King and the Cardinal already possessed the writings I hadformerly addressed to Ascanio. You are aware that I was ill at thetime, yet, unwilling to refuse, I resolved to continue. Amongst thegreat mass of material furnished me at my request by the discoverers,I selected such deeds as were most worthy to be recorded. Since younow desire to include my complete works amongst the numerous volumesin your library, I have determined to add to those of my formerwritings by taking up the narrative of the principal events betweenthe years 1500 and 1510, and, God giving me life, I shall one daytreat them more fully.

[Note 1: His downfall was greeted with rejoicing throughout Italy.In Venice the joy-bells rang and the children danced and sang a_canzone_ in Piazza San Marco

_Ora il Moro fa la danza Viva San Marco e il re di Franzia_.

Milan fell a prey to Louis XII., and all northern Italy passed underthe French yoke. The Pope rewarded the bearer of the news with apresent of one hundred ducats, and at once seized Cardinal Ascanio'spalace with its art treasures. The Cardinal was captured near Rivoltaby the Venetians, who delivered him to the French. He was kept in thecitadel of Bourges until 1502, when he was released at the request ofthe Cardinal d'Amboise to take his place in the conclave which electedPius III. He died in 1505; and his former enemy, Guiliano dellaRovere, reigning as Pope Julius II., erected the magnificent monumentto his memory which still stands in Santa Maria del Popolo.]

To complete the decade, I had written a book which remainedunfinished, treating of the superstitions of the islanders; this newbook, which will be called the tenth and last, I wish to dedicate toyou, without rewriting my work or sending you my draft. Therefore,if on reading the ninth book you come across promises which are notrealised, do not be astonished; it is not necessary to be alwaysconsistent.[2]

[Note 2: _Non semper oportet stare pollicitis_.]

Let us now come to our subject. During these ten years manyexplorers,[3] have visited various coasts, following for the most partin the track of Columbus. They have always coasted along the shore ofParia, believing it to be part of the Indian continent. Some headingto the west, others to the east, they have discovered new countriesrich in gold and spices, for most of them have brought back necklacesand perfumes obtained in exchange for our merchandise, or by violenceand conquest. Despite their nakedness, it must be admitted that insome places the natives have exterminated entire groups of Spaniards,for they are ferocious and are armed with poisoned arrows and sharplances with points hardened in the fire. Even the animals, reptiles,insects, and quadrupeds are different from ours, and exhibitinnumerable and strange species. With the exception of lions, tigers,and crocodiles, they are not dangerous. I am now speaking of theforests of the district of Paria and not of the islands, where, Iam told, there is not a single dangerous animal, everything in theislands speaking of great mildness, with the exception of the Caribsor cannibals, of whom I have already spoken and who have an appetitefor human flesh. There are likewise different species of birds, and inmany places bats[4] as large as pigeons flew about the Spaniards assoon as twilight fell, biting them so cruelly that the men, rendereddesperate, were obliged to give way before them as though they hadbeen harpies. One night, while sleeping on the sand, a monster issuedfrom the sea and seized a Spaniard by the back and, notwithstandingthe presence of his companions, carried him off, jumping into the seawith his victim despite the unfortunate man's shrieks.

It is the royal plan to establish fortified places and to takepossession of this continent, nor are there wanting Spaniards whowould not shrink from the difficulty of conquering and subjugatingthe territory. For this purpose they petitioned the King for hisauthorisation.

The journey, however, is long and the country very extensive. Itis claimed that the newly discovered country, whether continent orisland, is three times larger than Europe, without counting theregions to the south which were discovered by the Portuguese and whichare still larger. Certainly the Spain of to-day deserves the highestpraise for having revealed to the present generation these myriadregions of the Antipodes, heretofore unknown, and for having thusenlarged for writers the field of study. I am proud to have shown themthe way by collecting these facts which, as you will see, are withoutpretension; not only because I am unable to adorn my subject moreornately, but also because I have never thought to write as aprofessional historian. I tell a simple story by means of letters,written freely to give pleasure to certain persons whose invitationsit would have been difficult for me to refuse. Enough, however, ofdigressions, and let us return to Hispaniola.

The bread made by the natives is found, by those who are accustomed toour wheat bread, to be insufficiently nourishing and therefore theylose their strength. The King consequently issued a recent decree,ordering that wheat should be sown in different places and atdifferent seasons. The harvest produced nothing but straw, similar totwigs, and with little grain; although what there is, is large andwell formed. This also applies to the pastures where the grass growsas high as the crops; thus the cattle become extraordinarily fat, buttheir flesh loses its flavour; their muscles become flabby, and theyare, so to say, watery. With pigs it is just the contrary; for theyare healthy and of an agreeable flavour. This is due doubtless tocertain of the island's fruits they greedily devour. Pork is aboutthe only kind of meat bought in the markets. The pigs have rapidlyincreased, but they have become wild since they are no longer keptby swineherds. There is no need to acclimatise any other species ofanimal or birds in Hispaniola.

Moreover, the young of all animals flourish on the abundant pasturageand become larger than their sires. They only eat grass, not barleyor other grain. Enough however of Hispaniola; let us now consider theneighbouring islands.

Owing to its length, Cuba was for a long time considered to be acontinent, but it has been discovered to be an island. It is notastonishing that the islanders assured the Spaniards who explored itthat the land had no end, for the Cubans are poor-spirited people,satisfied with little and never leaving their territory. They took nonotice of what went on amongst their neighbours, and whether therewere any other regions under their skies than the one they inhabited,they did not know. Cuba extends from east to west and is much longerthan Hispaniola, but from the north to the south it is, in proportionto its length, very narrow, and is almost everywhere fertile andagreeable.

There is a small island lying not far off the east coast ofHispaniola, which the Spaniards have placed under the invocation ofSan Juan.[5] This island is almost square and very rich gold mineshave been found there, but as everybody is busy working the mines ofHispaniola, miners have not yet been sent to San Juan, although it isplanned so to do. It is gold alone of all the products of Hispaniolato which the Spaniards give all their attention, and this is howthey proceed. Each industrious Spaniard, who enjoys some credit, hasassigned to him one or more caciques (that is to say chiefs) andhis subjects, who, at certain seasons in the year established byagreement, is obliged to come with his people to the mine belonging tothat Spaniard, where the necessary tools for extracting the gold aredistributed to them. The cacique and his men receive a salary, andwhen they return to the labour of their fields, which cannot beneglected for fear of famine, one brings away a jacket, one a shirt,one a cloak, and another a hat. Such articles of apparel please themvery much, and they now no longer go naked. Their labour is thusdivided between the mines and their own fields as though they wereslaves. Although they submit to this restraint with impatience, theydo put up with it. Mercenaries of this kind are called _anaborios_.The King does not allow them to be treated as slaves, and they aregranted and withdrawn as he pleases.[6]

[Note 5: Porto Rico.]

[Note 6: The system of repartimientos. Consult the writings of LasCasas on this subject.]

When they are summoned, as soldiers or camp-followers are drafted byrecruiting agents, the islanders fly to the woods and mountains ifthey can, and rather than submit to this labour they live on whateverwild fruit they find. They are a docile people, and have completelyforgotten their old rites, complying without reasoning, and repeatingthe mysteries they are taught. The Spanish gentlemen of positioneducate sons of caciques in their own houses, and these lads easilylearn the elements of instruction and good manners. When they growup and especially if their fathers are dead, they are sent back toHispaniola, where they rule their compatriots. As they are devoutChristians, they keep both Spaniards and natives up to their duties,and cheerfully bring their subjects to the mines. There are gold minesfound in two different districts, of which the first, called SanCristobal, is about thirty miles from the town of Dominica. The other,called Cibaua, is about ninety miles distant. Porto Real is situatedthere.

Great revenues are drawn from these countries, for gold is found bothon the surface and in the rocks, either in the form of ingots or ofscales which are sometimes small but generally of considerable weight.Ingots weigh 300 pounds, and sometimes even more, for one has beenfound which weighed 310 pounds.[7] You have heard it said that thisone was brought, just as it was found, to the King of Spain, on boardthe ship on which the governor Bobadilla embarked for Spain. The ship,being overloaded with men and gold, was wrecked and sunk with all itcontained. More than a thousand witnesses saw and touched this ingot.When I speak of pounds I do not mean precisely a pound, but a weightequal to a golden ducat of four ounces, which is what the Spaniardscall a _peso_ or castellano of gold. All the gold found in themountains of Cibaua is transported to the blockhouse of La Concepcion,where there are founderies for receiving and melting the metal. Theroyal fifth is first separated, after which each one receives a shareaccording to his labour. The gold from the mines of San Cristobal goesto the founderies of Bona Ventura; the amount of gold melted in thesefounderies exceeds 300 pounds of metal. Any Spaniard who is convictedof having fraudulently kept back a quantity of gold not declared tothe royal inspectors, suffers confiscation of all the gold in hispossession. Contentions frequently occur among them, and if themagistrates of the island are unable to settle them, the cases areappealed to the Royal Council, the decisions of that tribunal beingwithout appeal in the King's dominions of Castile.

[Note 7: Las Casas describes the finding of this nugget by anIndian girl, who accidentally turned it up while idly proddingthe ground with a sharp instrument. He gives its weight as 3600castellanos, equivalent to thirty-five pounds. The vessel which was